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Governor Okorocha |
By
Barr Emperor Nnabuihe Iwuala (KSC)
On the 16th November, 2013 at the
National Mosque Abuja, seventeen youths from Imo State publicly renounced
Christianity and defected to Islam.
However, that event would have
passed unnoticed to me except for the involvement of Governor Rochas Okorocha
in it.
In other to appreciate and encourage
this change of religion, Governor Okorocha joined two Moslem governors from the
northern part of Nigeria to dole out millions of naira to each of the new
converts. In fact, the governor announced a token of =N=2 million to the each
of the 17 new converts from Imo State.
National Christian Watch, a Lagos based Christian organization
in August 2014 conducted an online research on ‘the effects of monetary induced
conversion from Christianity to Islam’. The report of the research also
published online revealed that the population of Imo State may become 40%
Muslims and 60% Christians by the end of 2019 if Governor Okorocha’s
cash-for-Islam initiative is vigorously sustained.
I have no problem with anyone converting from one religion
to another especially where one is truly convinced to voluntarily change faith.
This ought to be personal and shouldn’t be the business of the state or
government to encourage or sponsor.
It has been generally agreed that
Jihad, which is an Islamic practice, is ‘a Holy War’ or ‘struggle’ in defence
of Islam. Islamic scholars have also agreed that this practice could be
achieved through the use of ‘force’. Presently, the greatest security issue
challenging Nigeria is the activities of the dreaded Muslim sect called Boko
Haram and there is no doubt that this sect is an Islamic jihad.
However, it is on record that Governor Okorocha has never
openly and vehemently lambasted the activities of this dreaded group or fought
against it. In stead, whenever Islam is associated with Boko Haram, the
governor comes in defence of Islam. Ironically, at a time the silence of the
spiritual authorities of Islam are deafening with regards to the activities of
this sect, the governor has taken it upon himself to become the faith’s image
maker; he never spared opportunity to sugarcoat Islam as a true, peaceful and
charitable religion but never spoke of Christianity in equal glowing terms. To
make matters worse, Okorocha defected from APGA (supposedly Igbo party) to APC,
a political platform that prides itself as the Nigerian version of the Egyptian
Muslim brotherhood. Short of calling Boko Haram freedom fighters whose
murderous agitation will end when APC assumes power, Okorocha dismisses every
allegation about Boko Haram being part of a wider agenda to Islamize Nigeria;
he often claimed Muslims are in majority victims of extremism. But who are the
extremists in the first place?
Since the commencement of the Boko
Haram insurgency in Nigeria, over 100,000 people have been killed and millions
displaced. Some of the displaced persons are from Imo State. Unfortunately, the
Governor Okorocha, so far, has done nothing to help the resettlement of these
displaced persons who have returned to Imo State devastated. He neither gave
them jobs nor financial assistance like the one he gave to the said new Imo
Muslim converts.
In Imo State, it is not news that
Governor Okorocha constructed a second Mosque in Orlu and hosted the Islamic
Women Council meeting in Owerri which critics said was packaged to recruit
young Igbo ladies into Islam. Worse the governor’s grandiose proposal to
construct a third mega mosque with golden dome at Control, few meters away from
the Assumpta Cathedral Owerri. When this 3rd Mosque is completed , what will
welcome any person coming into Owerri will no longer be the magnificent
Assumpta Cathedral but Okorocha’s golden Mosque.
I am convinced that no Muslim governor in Nigeria will build church for Christians in his state or give financial reward to people for converting from Islam to Christianity.
On the other hand, I am also convinced that Governor
Okororocha has never and will not give monetary inducement to an Imo Muslim
that converts to Christianity.
Therefore, the way things a going,
Christianity may become a minority religion by the next 25 years by the time
Boko Haram finishes with the depopulation of Christians in Nigeria if leaders
like Okorocha are not stopped.
Interestingly, the Roman Catholic Church that is largely
responsible for Governor Okorocha’s election victory in 2011 is today
disappointed in him not just because he refused to redeem the financial pledge
he made to them but because of the economic strangulation of the members most
of who are contractors. It is said that he awards major contracts only to his
Arabian and Lebanese cronies, thereby killing local businesses.
I like the fact that Muslim leaders
are serious about their faith, hence I expect Christians in leadership to also
reflect serious commitment to their faith, accountable and responsive to those
that voted them into office.
It is only in the regime of Rochas
that primary school teachers who retired from state schools are not paid their
pensions for more than a year. This group of pensioners form 70% of the entire
pensioners in the state. Regrettably, as at the time this write-up which is
towards the end of the year 2014, Governor Okorocha is still owing these sect
of senior citizens arrears of unpaid pensions from November 2013 till date
which comes to a total 13 months. The issue of gratuities cannot be discussed
now until pension is attended to. The predicament of the above retirees is even
better than that of their colleagues who retired from the Imo Newspaper and Imo
Broadcasting Corporation.
Therefore, if Governor Okorocha does not know how best to
use the common fund of Imolites entrusted in his hands, he can use them to
re-settle and rehabilitate some citizens of the state displaced by the
activities the Boko Haram and pay pensioners.
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